Physics I: Classical Mechanics

Physics I: Classical Mechanics

Professor Lewin puts his life on the line in Lecture 11 by demonstrating his faith in the Conservation of Mechanical Energy.

Course Highlights

This course features lecture notes, problem sets with solutions, exams with solutions, links to related resources, and a complete set of videotaped lectures. The 35 video lectures by Professor Lewin, were recorded on the MIT campus during the Fall of 1999. Prof. Lewin is well-known at MIT and beyond for his dynamic and engaging lecture style.

» Download the complete contents of this course.

Course Description

8.01 is a first-semester freshman physics class in Newtonian Mechanics, Fluid Mechanics, and Kinetic Gas Theory. In addition to the basic concepts of Newtonian Mechanics, Fluid Mechanics, and Kinetic Gas Theory, a variety of interesting topics are covered in this course: Binary Stars, Neutron Stars, Black Holes, Resonance Phenomena, Musical Instruments, Stellar Collapse, Supernovae, Astronomical observations from very high flying balloons (lecture 35), and you will be allowed a peek into the intriguing Quantum World.

OpenCourseWare also presents Professor Lewin's freshman physics course series8.02 - Electricity and Magnetism - with a complete set of 36 video lectures from the Spring of 2002 and 8.03 - Vibrations and Waves - with a complete set of 23video lectures

Lecture Notes

This section contains documents created from scanned original files, which are inaccessible to screen reader software. A "#" symbol is used to denote such documents.

Supplemental notes are available for some of the lectures.

LEC #	TOPICS	LECTURE NOTES
1	Powers of Ten - Units - Dimensions - Measurements - Uncertainties - Dimensional Analysis - Scaling Arguments	Thigh Bones (Femur) of Mammals (PDF)#
5	Circular Motion - Centrifuges Moving - Reference Frames - Perceived Gravity	Orbital Information on Planets (PDF)#
9	Exam Review	Information on Exam 1 (PDF)
12	Non-Conservative Forces - Resistive Forces - Air Drag - Terminal Velocity	Resistive Force on Spheres (PDF)# Karo Corn Syrup (PDF)# Drop Steel Ball Bearings in Corn Syrup (PDF)# Falling Balloon with and without Air Drag (PDF)# Falling Pebble with and without Air Drag (PDF)#
14	Escape Velocities - Bound and Unbound Orbits - Circular Orbits - Various Forms of Energy - Power	Energy and Power Consumption (PDF)#
17	Impulse - Rockets	Rocket Equations (PDF)#(Courtesy of W. H. Freeman & Company.) Tipler, Paul A. "Rocket Propulsion." Physics for Scientists and Engineers. Vol. 1, Mechanics, Oscillations and Waves, Thermodynamics. 4th ed. W. H. Freeman and Company/Worth Publishers (c), 1998, pp. 241-243. ISBN 9781572596733. (pbk.)(Excerpt)
18	Exam Review	Information on Exam 2 (PDF)
19	Rotating Rigid Bodies - Moment of Inertia - Parallel Axis and Perpendicular Axis Theorem - Rotational Kinetic Energy - Fly Wheels - Neutron Stars - Pulsars	Flywheel Technology (PDF)#
22	Kepler's Laws - Elliptical Orbits - Satellites - Change of Orbits - Ham Sandwich	Notes on Kepler Orbits (PDF)# Problem 8.2 (PDF)# Computer Demonstrations - To Catch or not to Catch! Tossing a Sandwich - Peter and Mary in Orbit (PDF)# Data used by Kepler (1618) (PDF)#
23	Doppler Effect - Binary Stars - Neutron Stars and Black Holes	Effects of Inclination of Binary Systems (PDF)
24	Rolling Motion - Gyroscopes - VERY NON-INTUITIVE	Torques on Rotating Disks - Gyroscopic Behavior (PDF)#
25	Static Equilibrium - Stability - Rope Walker	Conversion from Linear to Rotational Motion (PDF)#
26	Elasticity - Young's Modulus	Elasticity of Metals (PDF)#
29	Exam Review	Information on Exam 3 (PDF)
33	Kinetic Gas Theory - Ideal Gas Law - Isothermal Atmosphere - Phase Diagrams - Phase Transitions	Ideal Gas Law (PDF) Comments on Phase Transitions (PDF)